Societas Ambulationis Academica - The regular practice trajectory: Haarlem-Katwijk

For although the distance already covered is substantial, and the marcher who calls it a day at Langevelderslag has nothing to be ashamed of, the more experienced walker knows that this is where the fun begins.

For this vast bit of beach, upon which the tenderizing tiredness overcomes us at last, emotion moves us, conversations cease and we spend much time conferring with our selves, is what it's all about.

Here the marcher gains victory over himself, be he an experienced walker or not, and the thought back to this damned, cursed, hated but at the same time so dearly beloved (nude) beach, along which we marched endlessly as the Hotels of Orange, visible from the first step onward, in the hazy distance, continued to nastily, scornfully move away from us by simply walking off, until we beat them by arriving at last, this thought drags us, in a pan-European way of speaking, through many a trial scotfree.

And the astounding vistas that the sea, the Hotels of Orange and, in clear weather, The Hague, situated further down the coastline, offer, are forever etched onto our retina and make us what we are: the Academic Walking Society, Sir, from Haarlem.

Brimming with this sort of senseless auto-heroification we therefore stagger onto the Queen Wilhelmina Boulevard in Noordwijk, to come to a halt before the statue of the unwavering despot herself, the Mother of the Fatherland under whose leadership our people regained its freedom. It depicts her as she appeared at that time and it was unveiled by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, Soldier of Orange. A place for contemplation.

This monument-moment over, we turn around and limp further, across the zebra crossing to the door of the Orangerie, the brasserie of Hotel Oranje (hang a left after the outer door), to fill ourselves with beverages galore. If, that is, the place is open to us, because they sometimes rent the place out and, after 5PM, you can only sit down there if you also have dinner there - so in cases like that we push off to the pub (of the same hotel, can be reached from within as well as from without). But it offers less peace and is a lot less stylish, so we prefer the Orangerie.

There, the resting is good and satisfying, even when this is not the end of the course. The distance covered to get here is, after all, considerable, so we often stop here - but not always. Whether we do so or not, we leave the building through the revolving front door, past the white pianola and the beautiful portrait of the Queen.

Then we turn right, and left after that, to get to the busstop, or turn left immediately, to march past the statue of Wilhelmina and descend towards the beach once again, for the last leg of our journey.

On to Part V | Back to Part III